The

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

took place at the Warwick Hotel in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

as they had only participated in the 1960 NFL expansion draft that year. The Cowboys held the worst record in the NFL the previous season, but selected second in this draft because the expansion Vikings were awarded the first overall pick. The Vikings used that pick to select running back

Tommy Mason Thomas Cyril Mason (July 8, 1939 – January 22, 2015) was an American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). College career Mason played college football for Tulane University. *1959: 10 Games – 81 carries for 336 yar ...

Player selections

Round one

* ^HOF Member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Round eight

Round nine

Round ten

Round eleven

Round twelve

Round thirteen

Round fourteen

Round fifteen

Round sixteen

Round seventeen

Round eighteen

Round nineteen

Round twenty

Hall of Famers

Herb Adderley Herbert Anthony Adderley (June 8, 1939 – October 30, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 1980, he was enshrined in th ...

, running back from Michigan State taken 1st round 14th overall by the Green Bay Packers. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1980.List of 1980s Hall of Fame Inductees *

Bob Lilly Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle. After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, he played for the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...

, tackle from Texas Christian University taken 1st round 13th overall by the Dallas Cowboys. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1980, * David "Deacon" Jones, defensive end from South Carolina State taken 14th round 186th overall by the Los Angeles Rams. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1980. *

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

, quarterback from Georgia taken 3rd round 29th overall by the Minnesota Vikings. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1986. *

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

, tight end from the University of Pittsburgh taken 1st round 5th overall by the Chicago Bears. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1988. * James Earl "Jimmy" Johnson, running back from UCLA taken 1st round 6th overall by the San Francisco 49ers. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1994.List of 1990s Hall of Fame Inductees *

Billy Shaw William Lewis Shaw (born December 15, 1938) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League (AFL). After playing college football with the Georgia Tech Yellow J ...

, offensive guard from Georgia Tech taken 14th round 184th overall by the Dallas Cowboys, signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the AFL. :Inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 1999.

Notable undrafted players

References

External links

NFL.com – 1961 Draft

Pro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 Nfl Draft National Football League Draft

Draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...